A Walk in the Park (Or Anything But)
by superpsychtime
Summary: Dean chivalrously skips out on the Super Bowl to go on a picnic with Cas, when problems arise.
1. Don't Get Too Close

The birds were tweeting, the crickets were chirping, and rays of sunlight snuck through the windows of Bobby Singer's home, which mildly disturbed the residents inside. Sam and Cas didn't seem to notice the rays of sunshine, but for Dean they seemed to have settled right in his eyes and refused to let him concentrate on the TV. What use was a football game if you couldn't see what was happening? Dean tried to scoot over to his right to get out of the sunlight, but his giant moose of a brother made that notion impossible, unless he wanted to suffocate. He even contemplated scooching over towards Cas, but he was already pretty far into his personal space. Anymore advances and he'd be practically sitting in his lap.

Dean bit down the smile that almost formed from the thought.

After a while, Dean got fed up with his situation and stood up. "Alright," he said, "Time to do somethin' else."

Cas gave him a perplexed look and tilted his head (which Dean did not find adorable) while Sam looked at him as if he were an escaped insane asylum patient.

"You wanna miss this game?" Sam said, sounding incredulous, "The game you've been impatiently whining all day about?"

Dean had been looking forward to this game, but it would come on again right? He took a glance out of the window and saw how peaceful everything outside looked. "Yeah," Dean said, making up his mind. "We should go to the park."

Sam's eyebrows shot up even higher as he looked at what he thought was his brother, but now not quite sure. He forced a strained laugh and said, "Okay... And do what? Have a picnic or something?" This time a real laugh came out as he thought about how ridiculous two hunters and an angel having a picnic lunch sounded.

"That sounds like a pleasant idea, Sam," Cas said with a completely serious expression. "I'll make some sandwiches." And with that, he rose from the couch and headed into the kitchen.

A grin broke across Dean's face as he saw how utterly horrified Sam looked. He knew Sam wanted to see this game even more baldly than he did. "Calm your tits Samantha," Dean said as Sam directed his best 'shut up jerk' face at him. "I'll babysit the angel in the park for a bit and you can stay and watch your precious football game."

Sam released a sigh of relief.

"But," Dean said, holding up a finger for emphasis, "If you even hint at who won this game, I will kill you."

Sam rolled his eyes. His brother could be so dramatic.

"Dean," Cas called. He was by the door carrying a big basket that was so perfect for picnics it was almost comical. "Are you coming?"

Dean was surprised at how quickly he had finished preparing the food, but it probably had something to do with his angel mojo. His smile returned to his face as he made his way over to Cas and grabbed his keys from off the counter. Before he stepped outside, he turned around one more time and coughed, loudly, to get Sam's attention. Sam turned around and looked at Dean, annoyance obvious on his face.

"Remember," Dean warned, "Not a word."

Sam spent the next few minutes trying to figure out if Dean meant that he better not mention a word about the winner of the game, or the fact that his all too manly brother just left for a picnic in the park with his angel.


	2. It's Dark Inside

It was the perfect day for walking. The sun made the atmosphere warm, but not hot. The occasional breeze of wind cooled things down, but didn't chill. The park was two, maybe three, minutes away from Bobby's house. Everything about the day just beckoned for Dean and Cas to take a walk.

Forget that.

Dean didn't care if the park was two _seconds_ away- they were taking his car.

Once they arrived, Dean made the semi-illegal decision to just cruise right under a nearby tree, even though cars technically were suppose to park in the parking lot. His actions were justified, though, because he couldn't just let his baby bake in the sun.

"So what's on the menu, man?" Dean asked as he stepped out of the car. He grabbed the over-sized Batman blanket out of the backseat and started to unravel it underneath a fairly shady tree. Cas joined him soon, carrying the basket full of goods.

"I have a confession to make," Cas said, not meeting Dean's eyes.

Dean halted smoothing out the blanket to look at Cas' guilty face. "...Yeah, what is it?"

Cas bit his lip before answering, one of the many human traits he was picking up on. "I didn't make any sandwiches while I was in the kitchen."

Dean sat there, confused, as he waited for him to continue.

"I actually, um, used my powers to make us bacon cheeseburgers." Cas looked at the ground, face smitten with shame.

It took everything Dean had not to burst out laughing. "Dude-"

"Apple pie," Cas interrupted.

"What?"

"I also conjured an apple pie. Dean I'm so sorry I cheated and didn't do this the traditional way."

Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing and he fought the urge to downright hug the angel and possibly absorb some of the innocence that was apparently dripping from him.

"Cas." Cas' eyes looked up and met Dean's. "Do you understand how _freakin' awesome_ your powers are? That's even better than the crappy lunch I thought we were gonna have! You gotta relax dude." Dean's words caused the tension in Cas' shoulders to visibly melt away. "Oh and Cas?"

"Yes Dean?"

"Could you do me a favor?"

"Yes, anything."

"Could you pass me a burger?" Cas smiled big and bright and tossed one to Dean.

Four burgers, one hour, and three slices of pie later, Dean and Cas were sleepily leaning on their shady tree. Dean was trying not to doze off but was failing miserably. His head sought the comfort of Cas' shoulder, and although Cas was an angel and didn't technically get sleepy, the burgers and pie that he had eaten (more for Dean's benefit than his own) made his vessel go into a state of mild fatigue. Dean didn't want to make Cas uncomfortable or anything with his closeness, but he was just so stuffed and Cas was just so _warm_ that he found himself subconsciously moving closer to him, like a moth drawn to light. And what did Cas care about personal space anyway?

Dean figured that it could be considered rude to fall completely asleep on their outing, so he tried to keep talking to fight off sleep's cold hands.

"...And so basically," Dean yawned and more or less scooched closer to Cas, "That's how Led Zeppelin was formed. Any questions?"

Cas had a few, but none of them about the band in question. Instead he had inquiries about why his human had a sudden, but not unwelcome, fondness of being close. He wanted to know why Dean would rather be there, on a picnic with him, instead of watching the game with Sam, the game he had been looking forward to for the better part of a month.

He wanted to question it, but he didn't dare. He feared that if he acknowledged Dean's curious actions, he'd abruptly stop.

He couldn't risk that.

So instead, Cas cautiously slipped his fingers into Dean's hair. He wasn't exactly sure what made him do this, but Dean didn't pull away and his golden blonde hair was nice and soft to the touch.

Cas' playing with his hair went almost unnoticed, and even though Dean did feel it, he hated to admit that he found it more comforting than uncomfortable. However, after a while of silence he realized that they had also brought a pack of beer and had left it in the car. Dean mischievously smiled to himself as he thought about how much fun it was gonna be to test out the angel's high alcohol tolerance and try to match it with his own.

"'Scuse me Cas," he said, getting up, "I'll be right back." He started to make his way over to the car.

* * *

><p>He couldn't have been gone for more than two minutes. Despite this, by the time he got back to their cozy little spot underneath the oak tree, Cas was gone.<p>

"Cas?" Dean said while doing a 360 spin just in case he was nearby.

He wasn't.

"Cas!" Dean set the beer on the ground and started to search their spot for signs of what could've happened to his angel. There were no signs of a struggle, no evidence of something that could have scared him away, nothing. Dean pushed down the panic that was clogging up his throat. In an effort to calm himself down, he started to pace back and forth and run through all of the different scenarios that would involve Cas leaving without warning.

1. He saw a hive of bees and wanted a closer look.

That sounded very much like a Cas thing to do.

2. A little old lady or a lost toddler was in dire need of assistance.

Cas was a freakin' boy scout when it came to people in need, so that would be something plausible.

As he thought of more likely explanations, Dean subconciously made his way back over to his car. A part of him probably just needed some form of comfort, and baby was perfect for the role of manly security blanket.

He opened up his door, plopped down into the front seat, and nearly had a heart attack when he heard the all too familiar "Hello Dean" when it came out of the back seat.


End file.
